Not So Random Thoughts About Christmas Eve Shooting . . .

Shocking . . . from any perspective this incident is beyond belief - do we live in the United States, or some third-world country where life is so cheap that weapons are used in a parking dispute? In a sub-division?

Why are there such strict parking restrictions to begin with? Why the aggressive "enforcement" on Christmas Eve (and I use the term "enforcement" loosely)? The obvious answer to the second question is greed, the tow-truck operator gets $300 for each towing/placement of boot - there is the bottom line in my opinion.

If I lived in that community I would be getting all my neighbors together and, as a neighborhood, empty the driveways - park everything on the street and wait for that tow-truck, or any other, to come back around. Peaceful protest - when the driver pulls up, gets out of his truck - start the car and move. But put EVERY car in Edgefield on the street.

But it goes far beyond simple greed. Far, far beyond.

What have we come to when we start flashing weapons on the street? On Christmas Eve? What happened to the ages-old "Peace on Earth, Good will towards man" spirit?

And when the weapon was first flashed that truck driver walked away - obviously safe. Why re-insert himself into the situation?

If the victim was shot in the back as stated in the papers, there is no question about self-defense. If Oates did in fact walk up to the victim after shooting him multiple times and fired another shot into him while on the ground - that's not self-defense folks - that's murder. Our troops in combat aren't allowed to do any of that - and Sherrif Tanner lets it happen in Bluffton, and the shooter walks?

This whole situation raises so many questions about how things are done here in Beaufort County . . . by the residents, by the companies and organizations here and finally by our law enforcement agencies.

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I understand where the HOA is coming from. Many of those streets are narrow. if cars are allowed to park in the streets, it is not only frustrating for drivers to get around, but unsafe. So they contract tow trucks instead of security to keep the streets passable. Maybe security officers might be a better choice, if they have security and hire a tow truck when applicable.

I suspect all HOAs should review the contracts if they hire tow trucks. Tow truck drivers are not authorized to become security or LE officers.

There should be clear instructions to those tow drivers that if they meet any resistance, then call security or an LE officer, even if they have to leave the scene to avoid a possibly violent confrontation.

In no way should a tow truck driver think he can enforce laws, especially with a weapon. Only LE officers and security officers are trained and authorized. No one can take the laws into their own hands.

Meanwhile, we'll have to be patient and wait on the Sheriff's Department investigation to see if it was an issue of self defense.

Yet this tow truck driver has been allowed to think he CAN enforce the law. On previous occasions he has used his gun and the "self defense" line has worked to get him off. Just like a child, if you say one thing, but do another, they begin to learn what they can get away with. Add to that,in a later confrontation he was wounded, his "self defense" argument gets a boost. Now you add a heightened sense of self preservation to someone who already has ego issues, confrontation issues, violent tendencies, combined with good old fashioned avarice and you've got a time bomb which just went off on Christmas Eve.

If we had a police officer with this background I don't think we'd have him out there patrolling the streets carrying a gun. The police department would probably see that this was a person who they did not want to put in charge of a gun and he would likely be on desk duty (or with the Moda club incident, let go). Yet as a private citizen this man kept on thinking he was the towing "law" and people were going to follow what he said or "pay" gd it and if they tried to get in his way or threaten him then he was going to show him who they were "dealing with" because he kept a gun in his truck. This is the kind of vigilante mind set that leads to this kind of tragedy.

If this man had a little kindness in his heart and taken Christmas Eve off, we wouldn't be here. If the victim hadn't flashed his gun hoping to save himself 300 dollars we wouldn't be here. If the tow truck driver had done the legal thing and walked away, gotten in his truck, driven around the block and called the police, we wouldn't be here. Yet in this instance, testosterone and arrogance collided to bring about a horrible end for many lives and leave 4 children fatherless.

I have heard of this guy in my comings and goings - i believe that he does look for confrontation -all the stories i here about him are unbelievable- if he ran to his truck, to get away from the guy with the gun, at that point he should have drove away and called the police - the sheriff is an a hole if he believes anything this guy says - he's already been involved in self defense situations- how many self defense situations has any random person been involved with - kinda like the boy who cried wolf- lets all not forget about the bar he opened this year without a business license or liquor license -or the time he was waiving a gun around the convience store and somehow that charge was dropped- he does think he is above the law - and maybe the law gives him some reason to believe that- i am sorry for this man and his family who had to cross paths with the deranged person -who might i add i saw alive yesterday on christmas driving around town - maybe the police need to start watching the 1st 48 to see how it is done and the family needs to get a great attorney and sue the HOA, Protow, Preston Oats and beaufort county PD.

OK, someone said that they had to keep the street open as it is narrow. Please go back and reread the article. He wasn't on the street, it said he was parked 'Next to his brother's SUV'. That would have been in the driveway. It also said Oates determined that 'he was violating the parking regulations in Edgefield. Does that once again mean that his tire was touching the grass? That was the case with with the last one, someone parked on their own property, Oates towed them out of their own driveway in the middle of the night. This time, he just killed them.
I'm looking forward to the time in the near future when Edgefield is a deserted ghost town as no one in their right mind would live somewhere that they kill you for touching the grass by your driveway. Check out properties for sale, it's already heading that way, this should put it right over the top!
And if this guy, with his previous list of confrontations, isn't convicted of murder, we will have proven once again that murder is completely legal in Beaufort County. Thanks, Sheriff Tanner!

Time to get the IRS involved. Maybe that would get him off the streets and into federal custody, if he hasn't been reporting the cash he takes in. This does not appear to be the kind of man who runs to pay his taxes on all that money he brags about making off the backs of hard workers and families with children to feed and clothe and educate.

I also wondered how he was able to create the business at such a young age. Many possible answers come to mind which I will not state here in that they are just projections.

To find out connections, we might be interested in election records. Who were major contributors to the sheriff's last election? That would be the voter's registration office. Public Record. One can often find connections in this way.